26 May More Reasons to Stay on the Coast
The Sechelt Hospital Foundation continues to receive generous support for local health care resources, the most recent coming from Jason Wubs, CEO of Westland Insurance and Jeff Wubs, Founder. The two shared their family’s and organization’s commitment to supporting health care in the communities where Westland operates its insurance business. To do that, they reached out to the foundation and asked, “what does Sechelt Hospital need”?
Cystoscopy tower, camera and monitor newly installed
at Sechelt Hospital, thanks to donor contributions.
Turns out many seniors spend hours travelling into the city for a 3 or 4 minute cystoscopy procedure, so right away it became obvious life could be vastly improved for many Coasters by the purchase of a set of 10 video cystoscopy scopes and a cystoscope tower, camera and video monitor needed for urological exams and surgery. Replacing the cystoscope sooner rather than later promised to expedite urological procedure repatriations to the Sunshine Coast, expand capacity, and provide state-of-the-art equipment for these procedures. “Some of our patients might still require more specialized care in the city, but having the best equipment here, on Coast, will increase our ability to provide care closer to home,” stated Michelle Stanton, Manager of Sechelt Hospital Acute Services.
On Tuesday, May 18th Sechelt Hospital Foundation, Vancouver Coastal Health leadership and members of the Westland Insurance executive team gathered online for a virtual cheque presentation. On screen, Jason and Jeff presented two cheques: $100,000 from Jeff and Christina Wubs and $50,000 from Jason Wubs and the Westland Insurance team. Jane Macdonald, E.D. at the Hospital Foundation reported on the speed in which the Wubs’ Family and Westland Insurance gifts were complemented by an additional donor’s gift of $20,000 and the Hospital Foundation Board’s decision to commit $50,000 donor contributions. Marie Duperreault, VCH Director for the Sunshine Coast and Sechelt Hospital, expressed her “sincere thanks to the Foundation and donors for the generous gift to support our patients and surgical services team here at Sechelt Hospital.”
This new system provides the following benefits:
- Vastly improved optics for diagnosis and surveillance of bladder cancer & other bladder, urinary tract and or prostate issues
- Updated more reliable equipment less prone to breakdown/equipment failure
- Modernization of diagnostic urology
Dr. Chris Hoag, Urologist
Cystoscopy is a procedure that lets the healthcare provider view the urinary tract, particularly the bladder, urethra, and openings to the ureters. This may include early signs of cancer, infection, narrowing, blockage, or bleeding.
To do this procedure, a long, flexible, lighted tube, called a cystoscope, is put into the urethra and moved up into the bladder. During a cystoscopy, the healthcare provider may remove tissue for further exam (called a biopsy). Some problems can be treated during the procedure. Some medical problems of the urinary tract that may be found during cystoscopy include:
- Cancer or tumor of the bladder or prostate gland
- Polyps or overgrowths of normal tissue (or a mass that is not cancer)
- Bladder stones, which are calcium crystals that can lead to infection, inflammation, bleeding, and blockages in the urinary tract
- Scarring and damage caused by frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs)
- Abnormalities of the urinary tract that may be present at birth and may lead to a backflow of urine or kidney problems
- Injury of the urinary tract
The equipment was ordered, installed, and put to work right away as of May 11th. Dr. Chris Hoag, visiting Urologist, and Dr. Daren Spithoff, head of Anesthesia at Sechelt Hospital, shared a video message from Sechelt Hospital’s Operating Room underscoring the significance of the new Cystoscopy equipment.
Dr. Daren Spithoff, G.P. and Head of Anesthesia at Sechelt Hospital
“This equipment brings the capacity at Sechelt Hospital for diagnostics up to the same standard of care and level of services as the North Shore,” remarked Dr. Chris Hoag, a visiting urologist who has been seeing patients on the Sunshine Coast for several years. Dr. Spithoff added “for our bladder cancer patients and their follow-up requirements, we will be able to perform these procedures with state-of-art equipment closer to home. Thank you from all of us at Sechelt Hospital.”